Risky Business
by IndigoRiot
Summary: Mini-series. Tyson has too much time on his hands and decides to play an elaborate prank on Kai. When he discovers the mastermind behind all the 'cat fact' texts he's been getting, will Kai return fire with a prank of his own, and declare a pranking war? Will anyone come out of this unscathed? Well, you won't find out unless you read.
1. The Hell? I Did Not Sign Up For This

_**Title: **Risky Business_

_**Summary: **Mini-series. Tyson has too much time on his hands and decides, yet again, to play an elaborate prank on Kai. When he discovers the mastermind behind all the 'cat fact' texts he's been receiving, will Kai return fire with a prank of his own? Minimal swearing, rated K+_

_**A/N: **So, in case anyone's unfamiliar with this mobile prank that's become a bit of a phenomenon, **go onto ****google** and type in 'cat facts prank' and click on the first link that takes you to the buzzfeed page – you will be treated to a wonderful set of screen caps showing you, quite possibly, the pranking master at work. 8D  
>Then I came up with this, because Tyson's the kind of guy to jump on the bandwagon, particularly since he knows one particular cat-lover who's just so amusing to annoy. :'D<br>Kinda takes place within the context of my other series, **the Spaces in Between**. You don't need to have read it to understand what's going on, but when I make references to Mr D's tournament, then, yeah, that's the one I'm on about. Enjoy! :3_

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><p>– <strong>The Hell? I Didn't Sign Up For This.<strong>

"Hey, Max."

Kai watched as Max tore his baby blue eyes away from his match with Rei and turned his attention to him. "Yeah, Kai?"

"What's Tyson think he's playing at."

"Uhh...I dunno?" Max said a little warily, "I haven't seen him."

"Hn."

Kai folded his arms and turned his back on the match, walking a few paces away to glare at the ocean. They were at the beach, and he'd taken the time to bring around a portable bey-dish and set up an obstacle course (of empty soda cans, very elaborately displayed) for his team to practice on. They all flew out for Mr D's mysterious charity tournament in a month's time, so training was beginning to get serious. Not that he didn't always take training serious, of course. But this was seriously serious.

He and Hilary had scheduled this training session yesterday, which was more than enough time for everyone to make preparations and he expected nothing less than for everyone to show up. However, they'd been here for an hour already and that lazy ass Tyson hadn't even made an appearance. Worse yet, he hadn't even tried to call in with some lame excuse – at least that involved a little effort on the lazy-teen's part, however minimal.

"Hilary," he called over his shoulder, "have you seen him?"

"Uhh, well..."

"Have you?" he snapped. He didn't have the patience to deal with her covering for him today. Half the time she actually enjoyed ratting him out to Kai.

"Hey! Don't you snap at me like that, Kai," she said, indignantly, trying to intimidate him with her coach voice. It wasn't working. When Kai turned around, she was glaring at him with her hands resting on her tiny little hips. He just raised an eyebrow expectantly at which she rolled here eyes, but answered his question anyway. "He was at school today, if you must know."

Yes, actually, he must know. "Fine. So he's just playing truant, then."

"I dunno, Kai, maybe he's got homework," Rei volunteered, trying to present something in the navy-haired teen's defense.

Hilary visibly face-palmed while Kai just shot him a distinctly unimpressed look. Tyson always _had_ homework, but the notion of him actually doing it was just about as ridiculous as the notion of him thinking he could skip out on practice and get away with it lightly. "Right," Kai snarked, "or maybe he's pacing around his bedroom, mustering up the courage to just ask Hilary out already."

"Huh, what?" Hilary screeched, blushing crimson with indignation and embarrassment.

Kai tutted. He wasn't dense, and even though he'd only been around the pair for a month, their raging arguments interspaced between secretive glances, ruthless teasing and inside jokes weren't hard to interpret. He didn't particularly care what was going on, so long as it didn't affect the team and his blading.

Rei just rolled his eyes over the sound of Hilary's complaints and muttered something about 'just trying to be helpful.'

Then, the sound of a text alert echoed around the group and Kai pulled his phone out of his pocket, muttering. "Took him this long to think of an excuse? It better be good." Opening up the message menu he saw that it was not from Tyson at all, but an unknown number. He stared down at it utterly perplexed as he read. "What the…"

– _Thank you for signing up to Cat Facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about CATS! –_

"So, what's his excuse?" Max asked. He and Rei had called an end to the match already, clearly not getting much done with the mysterious case of the missing Tyson looming over their heads. The blonde was walking over towards him, while Rei had a hand on Hilary's shoulder and was trying to calm her down. She was off on a rant again, clearly unimpressed with his earlier remark.

"It isn't him," he said shortly, typing in the words _**'what is this?'**_ and hitting the send button. Cat Facts Daily, what the hell? He didn't sign up for anything. A few seconds later, he received a reply.

– _In Ancient Egypt, family members shaved their eyebrows in mourning when the family cat died. [To cancel you subscription to Cat Facts Daily, reply 'cancel'] –_

Utterly confused, Kai was in the process of typing in the word 'cancel' when his phone chimed again with another message.

– _Would you like to upgrade your subscription and receive a fun Cat Fact every hour? [To cancel, reply 'Tsxf192649126eehtb'] –_

– _**Tsxf192649126eehtb** –_

– _**Cancel** –_

"Haha, whoa Kai, you actually sign up for those things?"

Kai spared a moment to glare at the blonde who was currently peering over his arm to peek at his phone, and sniggering. Then he looked up at Kai a little meekly when he saw the intensity of the glare he was receiving. "Hehehe...right. Minding my own business now," he said as turned around to join Rei and Hilary. His attention was drawn back to his phone within seconds as he received another message.

– _Command not recognized. You have a [year] subscription to Cat Facts and will now receive fun [hourly] updates! Enjoy! –_

And then another:

– _Recent studies have shown that cats can see blue and green. There is some disagreement about whether they can see red. Thanks for choosing Cat Facts Daily! –_

– _**Cancel.** –_

– _**Shut the fuck up **–_

– _Command not recognized. Please let us know that you are human by completing the following sentence: Your favourite animal is the [blank]. –_

What the hell was this? How can they not recognize 'cancel' when they told him to say it just two texts before? Idiots. Kai was losing what little patience he had. Smirking cruelly, he replied:

– _**Dog.**_ –

Then, seconds later:

–_INCORRECT. Your favourite animal is the cat. You will continue to receive fun Cat Facts every [hour]. Mee-ow! –_

Visibly fuming Kai shoved his phone into his pocket and ignored it. He'd deal with it later. He needed an outlet for his current frustration, so he decided it was about time he went and found Tyson. "Rei," he called, turning over to the group, "get over here and help me with this bey-dish. Hilary, you can help Max with the cans," he ordered.

Rolling their eyes at his impoliteness they went about doing what he'd asked without complaint, not wanting risk their luck (and an early end to practice) by spoiling his mood any more with their grumbling. Kai tried to ignore the humour in Max's eyes when he caught his eye and the the way he broke off awkwardly as he stooped to pick up the cans, apparently unable to take him seriously after seeing the Cat Fact texts.

Kai scowled. He did _not_ sign up for this.

**–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––**

"Hey, Tyson, there you are!" The navy haired teen got up off the floor and turned around as he heard the sound of his best friend's voice. "Why weren't you at practice?"

"Practice? Oh my god, yeah, I totally forgot!" He raised his hand up to readjust his cap – an unconscious nervous habit he did whenever he was embarrassed, taken by surprise, lying, or just trying to get out of trouble.

"Right," Max drawled, clearly not believing him. "So, what've you been doing then?"

"Oh, yeah, Gramps lost his cell," Tyson said briefly, gesturing to the couch he'd just been searching under, "and I'm helping him look for it. It's not in his room, or the car, or the fridge," he listed dramatically. "Hey," he said, in reaction to Max's expression when he mentioned the fridge, "some things just end up in places you'd never expect them to be. You gotta keep an open mind when hunting for elusive objects, Maxi, and cell phones definitely fall under that category. House keys, too. And homework," he added as an afterthought, "definitely homework."

"Hahaha...okay, sure." Max didn't know that Grandpa even had a cell phone. "Umm, anyway. I was gonna say, just watch out for Kai – he's got it in for you, bro."

"T'chh, why, just for missing practice?" Tyson said nonchalantly, throwing his arms behind his head. "Don't worry Maxi, nothin' I can't handle."

"Yeah, well, don't say I didn't warn you. He's really grouchy today."

"Yeah, yeah," Tyson said, lazily, pulling out a cell phone, checking the time, and beginning to text someone.

"Uhh, did you get a new phone?" Max asked, noticing that the phone Tyson pulled out was not the one he had before.

"This old brick?" He said, waving the old Nokia 3110 around, "Pfft, nahh, this is gramps' cell."

Max blinked. "But I thought you said he lost it!"

Tyson grinned. "He has lost it! He left it on the kitchen counter and doesn't have a clue where it is. Just keep your voice down, Maxi!"

"Tyson, that's stealing!"

"No it isn't. I'm just borrowing it!" he said, waving it around in the air just as he finished typing out the text. He was about to hit send when Kai stalked into the room. He quickly shoved the phone into his pocket and tried his best to look innocent. He didn't want Kai to think he was just goofing off instead of going to practice.

"What are you two clowns doing?" He said, walking up to them. Tyson noticed that he was stood up at full height, holding his shoulders wide, trying to throw his weight around as captain. Tyson internally rolled his eyes, while Max shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot after being caught trying to warn Tyson. Kai _was_ grouchy today.

"Nothin'," Tyson said, as innocently as possible. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Don't play games with me, Tyson. Why weren't you at practice?"

"Practice? Oh, _that_ practice! Dude, I err, I totally forgot. Sorry, man." Inside his pocket, Tyson sneakily hit the send button, and then watched with veiled amusement as Kai's face contorted when his iPhone chimed cheerfully.

Reluctantly, Kai pulled out his phone and read the text, glaring at it darkly. Tyson was suprised it didn't melt in his hand from the heat of Kai's gaze.

"Wow, now that's a death stare if ever I saw one," Tyson said cheekily. "Who is it?"

He made a show of trying to stand up on his tip toes and peering at the screen, while Kai just snatched the phone away and glared at Tyson. "No one," he spat. Then he shot a pointed look at Max before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room, his scarf trailing dramatically behind him.

As soon as Kai was around the corner, Tyson let his poker face slip and felt a wide, smug grin creep over his face. Kai didn't suspect a thing.

"Dude…" he head Max say to him. Turning to face him, Tyson saw that Max was trying to restrain a grin himself. "Please don't tell me that you're doing what I think you're doing."

"Why, Maxi? What is it that you think I'm doing?" Tyson grinned slyly.

"...Cat Facts Daily?" Max hedged.

"Shhh! Keep it down!" Tyson hissed. He grabbed the blonde by the elbow and dragged him down the hall and into the kitchen, the opposite direction of where Kai had gone. After shutting the door, he spun around to face Max with a mischievous light in his eyes. "So you saw? It's brilliant, isn't it?"

"No!" Max said, even though he was laughing. "Tyson, it's a death wish!"

"Pah, don't be silly, Maxi, it's not that bad!"

Max struggled to keep a straight face. "But Tyson, you know he loves cats."

At this, the navy headed blader cracked up. "I know," he said between sniggers, "that's what makes it so funny!"

"But he's sensitive about it, he doesn't think anyone knows! When he finds out, he'll probably kill you for making a joke over it."

"T'chh, he'll have to catch me first," Tyson said, lazily.

Just then, Rei came out of the pantry with a packet of ramen in his hands, and looked at the pair with an expression that was both unamused, and yet quite amused, at the same time. Like a father who's been called into the principal's office because their child's been playing tricks on the teacher. A teacher who the father dislikes anyway. But he has to pretend to be unimpressed, even though, really, he just feels like giving the kid a high five.

"What are you doing, now?" He knew they were pranking and that it involved Kai, and cats (risky business), but he didn't know anything else.

"We're not doing anything!" Tyson said innocently, just as Max said, "It's not me, it's Tyson!"

Rei rolled his eyes as Tyson sent Max a glare for ratting him out. "Alright, whatever. I don't even want to know. Just don't try and get me involved."

"Dude, you don't have to do anything. Just, don't tell Kai," Tyson pleaded.

"Okay, whatever. It's not like I want to make his mood any worse, anyway. He was really grouchy and glaring at everything on the way back here, you know?" Rei said, as he pulled out a small pan and began to make himself the ramen. "His phone kept making noises too. It was really annoying, actually."

At this comment, Tyson couldn't help but let out a snigger as he caught Max's eye. "Tell me about it. These subscription companies – so persistent."

Rei turned around and looked Tyson in the eye. Then, seeming to put two and two together, he said, "Oh no...you're not, are you?"

"He is," Max chirped, sitting at the table and snickering.

"So...what is it this time?" Rei asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Oh, nothing. Just a year-long subscription to Cat Facts Daily," Tyson said slyly. "For absolutely no cost at all, Kai is treated to a fun fact about his all time favourite animal, every hour, or every time he texts back, courtesy of my good self." He waved the Gramps' Nokia around as it chimed with another angry message from Kai, to illustrate the point. Then he sat down on the table next to Max and began to text back.

Rei laughed despite himself. It was always risky business messing with Kai, but he had to admit, there was a strike of genius behind Tyson's prank this time that even he could appreciate.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN:_**_ It has begun! 8D LOL, Tyson's suck a trickster. :3 I have absolutely no idea how long I intend this to be, but so long as you guys enjoy it and I keep thinking of ways for the boys to counter prank, then the show will go on. LOL, see you on saturday with a LONG update for **Spaces**! :)_

_**Next chapter: **Kenny is, quite obviously, a genius with all things technical. Utterly perplexed by the texts he did not subscribe to, but keeps on getting, Kai goes to him for help._


	2. So, Tell Me Another Cat Joke, I Dare You

_**A/N: **Greetings: I'm back with some more Bladebreaker tomfoolery – hope you enjoy it. Haha, the first half is quite unintentionally very shipper-ish. I just started typing, and couldn't delete what I'd written, it was too cute in my head. So, if you're a TyxHil fan, than you'll probably be enjoying the fluff here. If not, then be aware that I am a TyxHil, and always will lean toward this pairing.  
>As always, thanks to <strong>some stuff<strong> and **Lin** for your lovely reviews to the last chapter. Hope you enjoy the update! :)_

* * *

><p>– <strong>So, Tell Me Another Cat Joke. I Dare You<strong>

"Tyson, can I ask you something?"

"Uhh – No."

"Huh?" Hilary said, blinking in reply. "No? Why not?"

"'Cause," he grunted, "I'll just lose count and – then you'll get ratty and – make me start all over again and – dammit!" he said, sitting up straight and looking at her accusingly, "what number was I on?"

Hilary rolled her eyes. "Fifty-four," she said, sighing at his terrible memory.

It was Friday evening, and she and Tyson were in the yard outside the dojo. Kai had been a lot grumpier and short tempered over the past couple of days (Hilary thought it had something to do with the texts he kept getting, but she couldn't be sure), and Tyson's big mouth kept getting him in trouble with the older blader. Today, he made a snarky comment during practice after school that Kai took particular offense to and ordered him to do one hundred push-ups, sit-ups and squats in return. The push-ups were done already, and Tyson was currently mid-way through the sit-ups. Hilary volunteered to stay with him and make sure he got them done, because the way Kai looked at him was actually dangerously close to promising the navy-haired teen physical pain (and not just the sort he'd get from being punished to some intense athletic exercise).

She was sitting with her back against the porch post, hugging her knees to her chest. There was a mug of chocolate beside her on the porch, as well as Tyson's cap. Tyson had his feet wedged under the outcrop of the porch in an attempt to make his sit-up punishment a little easier.

"Arghh," Tyson groaned, running a hand through his messy hair before leaning back and resting his weight on his elbows, "this sucks. Sorry Hil, but I am _not_ doing those squats."

"Oh yes you are, Tyson." Hilary bossed, but more out of habit than anything else. She was so used to countering everything the boy said that it was almost second nature.

Tyson just raised a snarky eyebrow at her, clearly dismissing her venom-less threat, before saying, "So, what was it you wanted to ask anyhow?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, turning her head to the side and looking away from him, embarrassed, "it's not really important."

"Huh? Okay, whatever." Tyson shrugged, before continuing his sit-ups. He wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible so he could keep Kai updated with another Cat Fact. However, after about three sit-ups, he turned to Hilary indignantly and said, "Hey, you're not counting!"

"Huh, what?" Hilary blinked, not really playing attention.

"Hil, you gotta keep count for me!"

"Ahh, fine, quit whining at me! What number were you on?"

"Oh, er – like eighty-seven or something," Tyson said smoothly.

Hilary rolled her eyes and smirked. "Tch, no you weren't. Nice try Tyson. Let's call it twenty and start from there," she said cruelly.

"Huh, what! No, I was at fifty-seven, I remember now!" he said frantically, doing the math in his head.

"Okay. Well come on, then – fifty-eight's not gonna do itself." She snickered as he returned to his exercise with a groan and a mumble about 'stupid Kai.'

After about twenty sit-ups in relative silence, Hilary spoke again. "Ty?"

Tyson stopped in mid sit-up with a groan and rested his weight back on his hands. "What?"

"Does Kai have a girlfriend?" she said, all out of the blue.

Tyson's face was a complete blank for all of two seconds, before he dramatically collapsed backwards and began to howl with laughter on the ground. _"Kai_ have a _girlfriend?_ Hahahaha, why Hil? Are you thinking of making a move on him already?"

Hilary blushed crimson. "What? Ugh, no!" she spluttered.

"'Cause if you are, I think I'd better go and warn the poor guy," he snarked, in between bouts of laughter.

"Shut it, Tyson!" she shrieked, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm not even into Kai!"

"Heh, nahh – you'd rather have _him into you_, right?" he snarked, heavy on the innuendo.

"Arrgh, Tyson! You're disgusting, you know that?" she yelled at him, picking up his cap from beside her and lobbing it at his face. He just pulled it right off and laid it to the side of him, before throwing his arms back lazily and resting his head on them. Apparently, he was through with the sit-ups for now.

"So," he began, grinning cheekily at Hilary from the floor, "if you don't like him, then why are you even asking?"

"Oh, you now what, it doesn't even matter," she replied huffily, turning her head to the side.

"N'aw, come on Hil, don't be like that! You know you can trust me with anything!"

"Pfft, yeah right."

Tyson spared a few moments to chuckle at her expense, before saying, "Seriously. I'm curious now. Why are you even asking?"

"I think the question's more like, 'why am I even asking _you'_ when I know you never take anything seriously," she huffed, glaring at him with her ruby eyes.

"Because I'm you're bestest buddy, that's why," he said with a cheeky smile. She just rolled her eyes at him. "Okay okay, look, I'm not laughing anymore. And I won't tease you, I promise – I just wanna know. Please?" he said, pulling on his pitiful little puppy dog expression.

"Ugh, fine. It's not even like it's that bad, anyway. I was just wondering about all these texts he was getting, that's all."

"Texts, huh," Tyson said strangely, smirking a little. Hilary didn't understand why. "What about them?"

"Well, I just thought maybe he had a girlfriend and they were arguing or something. Like, maybe she was mad at him for leaving and coming back to Bakuten with us or...ugh, what now?" she said sharply at the end. Tyson had gradually began to snicker during her musings, and was now in full on laugh mode again.

"No, I'm not laughing at you. It's just, haha –" he broke off into another chortle again before continuing, "it's just, the thought of anyone thinking that Kai could have a girlfriend is hilarious."

"Tchh, it can't be _that_ hilarious, Ty."

"Yes it can. I mean, sure, he's rich, and a lot of girls think he's hot for some reason (personally, I think they're looking at the wrong person there, I'm _obviously_ better looking), but he's also too damn bossy and a total grouch. Can't think of many girls who'd put up with _that_. Those texts aren't from no girlfriend, Hil, trust me."

Hilary blinked. She thought he said that last part way too smugly. "Why...what makes you so sure?"

"Nothin'" he said innocently, absentmindedly reaching up a hand to fiddle with his hat, then grasping around for it when he remembered it wasn't on his head. Hilary latched onto the movement – she knew that habit, everyone did. Everyone apart from Tyson himself, apparently.

"Aha! You're lying!" Hilary declared, pointing a finger at him dramatically, "you know something, don't you?"

Tyson couldn't restrain his laugh. "No, I'm not lying, why would I be lying to you?" he said, totally unconvincingly.

"Fine, don't tell me," she said petulantly. "I'll just tell Kai you're up to something."

"Pshh, go ahead, I'll just say _you're_ lying."

"Okay, I will." Hilary got up and began to make her way into the dojo, calling Tyson's bluff.

"Dude! Hilary wait, fine!" He jumped straight to his feet and hurried off after her, pulling her by the wrist back out of the dojo. "I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not to rat me out."

Hilary narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Why, what are you doing?"

"Don't look at me like that, it's not anything bad! I'm just pulling a prank on him, that's all."

"What kind of prank?"

Tyson smirked. "The kind of prank that only a pranking master could pull off," he said, smugly.

Hilary blinked at him, waiting for him to explain further. When he didn't, she just said, "Well?"

"Oh, right. Well, you know when I didn't turn up to practice the other day?" Hilary nodded. "I was just about to leave for it when I saw Gramps' phone just lying on the kitchen counter, and I had this insane lightbulb moment. And I decided that I really wanted to prank Kai, I just had to think of something really good, and this is what I came up with." He slipped his blackberry out of his pocket and handed it to her. She automatically started browsing through the messages with Kai as he explained. "I was using Gramps' phone at first, but I went and got a new sim card for it yesterday and gave it back to him so Kai wouldn't get suspicious, and kept this one so I could keep texting him from that number."

He started snickering to himself in the silence as Hilary just scrolled through the messages. They pretty much just consisted of Tyson pretending to be a Cat Facts subscription company, with Kai replying angrily every two or three texts, trying to cancel the fake subscription. With a hint of a smile around her lips she said, "I've gotta say Tyson, I don't know whether to applaud your dedication, or pity you for being plain sad. Seems like a whole lot of effort for a joke."

"Tchh, you should be fainting in awe at my brilliance and dedication, obviously," he said nonchalantly. "But I wouldn't expect you to understand, anyway. You're just a girl. Pranking is the art of men."

Hilary swatted him on the arm and rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored his derogatory statement. Handing his phone back to him, she said, "So, just how long are you planning to keep this up, then?"

"I dunno," Tyson said, rubbing his chin in thought, "'til I get bored of it, I 'spose. Or til Kai finds out. Which he _won't_, since a certain someone here won't be ratting me out, _will they_?" He narrowed his eyes at her in mock accusation.

"Oh, don't you worry about a thing, Ty," she replied, holding her hands up, "your dirty little secret's safe with me."

"Good girl," he said, giving her a patronizing tap on the head. Then, turning around to pick his cap up off the floor with a wide smirk, he said, "'cause your _dirty _little secret's safe with me too, Hil."

"Huh? What secret?"

"That you have a thing for Kai, of course."

"Arghh, Ty-son!" she shrieked, "I _do not_ have a thing for Kai!"

Hilary dove angrily after Tyson as he placed his cap on his head and ran, secretly cheering in his head that the sit-ups and squats were forgotten about, while Hilary was wondering why exactly she chose to be friends with this boy and why she was always covering for him.

**––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––**

"Chief."

"Yes?"

The small brunette spun around on the chair he was sat on and looked up at Kai. Boy, he looked thunderous. Kai was towering over him with his arms folded and an expression on his face that Tyson would probably eloquently describe as _real pissed._ He watched as Kai made to speak twice, but then stopped, clearly reluctant to say whatever it was that he needed to say.

'_What's up Kai – cat got your tongue?' _Dizzi quipped from the desktop. Kai sent one of his sharpest glares at the laptop, clearly not impressed with what her smart-alec remark.

"...Kai?"

"I want your help with something, Kenny."

"Uhh...sure. Anything you want, Kai."

He watched curiously as Kai reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone. He unlocked the screen, opened the message tab, and then roughly deposited it into the Chief's hands. Kenny scrolled through the messages, half perplexed and half utterly amused. "Uhh, Kai... what is this?"

– _Welcome to Cat Facts! Did you know that there are approximately 100 breeds of cat? Talk about being spoiled for choice! –_

– _**No, I didn't. I really don't care** –_

– _**Cancel.** –_

– _Thanks for texting Cat Facts! Remember, every time you send a text, you will receive an instant Cat Fact! [To cancel, reply 'djgadauywubda89623najadn'] –_

– _**Djggigywubwubwubda89623najadn** –_

– _Command not recognized. Did you know, cats must have fat in their diet because they can't produce it on their own? Be sure to take good care of your cat. Meow! –_

– _**Fucking cancel** –_

– _**What is this?** –_

– _Welcome to Cat Facts. Did you know that a cat's urine glows under a black light? –_

– _Thanks for choosing Cat Facts. Did you know that a cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog? Who's man's best friend now? Mee-ow! –_

– _**Piss off** –_

– _**I'm calling this number** –_

– _Thanks for choosing Cat Facts! While many cats enjoy milk, it will give some cats diarrhea. Remember to pay close attention to your cat's diet so it can have a healthy, love-filled life! –_

– _**Stop. **–_

– _A cat will spend almost 30% of their life grooming himself. [To cancel Cat Fatcs, reply 'Idontwubwubwubyou192732qzp'] –_

_– **Is this a joke?** –_

– **_Idontwubwubwubyou192732qzp_** _ –_

– _Do you really want to cancel Cat Facts? To confirm, reply 'cancel' –_

– _**cancel** –_

– _To confirm your cancellation, please complete the following sentence: Your favourite animal is the [blank]. –_

– _**Cat.** –_

– _INCORRECT. Records indicate you previously answered your favourite animal is the [dog]. You will continue to receive [hourly] Cat Facts –_

– _**Are you fucking kidding me?** –_

– _**Dog. My favourite animal is the dog.** –_

– _**Dog.** –_

– _**Give me the question again** –_

– _Welcome to Cat Facts! A steady diet of dog food can cause blindness in your cat. Make sure to steer clear of that junk food when preparing you dear cat's meals! –_

– _**Shut up** –_

– _**Cancel** –_

– _Spraying a female cat before her first or second heat will greatly reduce the threat of mammary cancer and uterine disease. Thanks for choosing Cat Facts! –_

– _**Please go away** –_

– _Welcome to Cat Facts! Did you know that the domestic cat can spring at about 31 miles per hour? Me-wow! –_

Kenny was pulled out of the bizarre text messages by the sound of Dizzi cracking up with laughter.

'_Ha ha ha ha – ohhhh! I see now why you weren't impressed with my cat-got-your-tongue comment!'_

Kai blinked. "What the...how can you –"

"She probably read it over the bluetooth."

'_Yep. Talk about persistent subscriptions, you've really got it bad. Paw you! No wonder you've been such a sour-puss lately!'_

Kenny mentally face-palmed. Baiting Kai when he was already in such a foul mood was not a good idea. She might be safe inside the computer, but he wasn't! "Dizzi, please stop it with the cat-puns."

'_Huh, Chief, are you kitten me? There are just so many to chose from, litter-ally!'_

"Dizzi, please...this isn't funny."

'_Oh, I know. It's claw-fully serious business!'_

"That's it!" Kai reached out a hand and forcefully slammed Dizzi's laptop shut, ignoring Kenny's protests about her being fragile. "Kenny," he said stiffly. "I want you to make it stop."

Kenny scratched his head nervously as he tried to think. He was a computer whiz, not a phone technician – just because they were gadgets didn't mean they worked the same way! Besides, it looked to him like someone was just playing a joke on Kai. But he didn't want to say that and risk the grouchy captain being angry at him too, so he just kept those thoughts to himself. "I dunno, Kai, have you tried phoning them?"

"Yes," he hissed.

"And…?"

"And nothing. Just the answer phone."

"Right…"

Kenny continued scrolling through the messages, constantly restraining the urge to crack a smile. Laughing around an angry Kai was a dangerous thing to do – laughing _at_ an angry Kai was even worse.

"Well?" Kai demanded.

Kenny blinked. "Well what?"

"Well can you make it stop?"

"I don't know Kai, I mean, I don't see what I can do if you've already tried phoning them."

"Can't you just block the number?"

"Well, yeah, if your problem was unwanted phone calls. But as far as I'm aware, you can't block text messages."

"Why not?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"Geez! Kai, I don't know, I'm sorry! I mean, why don't you just get a new number?"

"Tch, what, just quit and let them beat me? Not likely," he said, folding his arms stubbornly and glaring out the window.

"Urghh, fine. Well then, have you thought that it might be…" Kenny trailed off lamely, not wanting to annoy him any more by suggesting that Kai was the victim of a prank.

"Spit it out, Chief. Might be what?"

"...might just be someone pulling a prank on you?" he said hesitantly.

Kai's shoulders relaxed a little. "A prank?"

"Sorry, silly suggestion, I know but…"

"No," Kai said, with a dangerous glint in his eye. "A prank…" he said, more to himself than to Kenny. Then, smirking ominously, he pulled his phone back out of Kenny's hands and turned on his heel, making to leave the room. "That's good ...thanks Chief."

With that, Kai walked right out of the room and vanished around the corner, his scarf billowing out behind him.

Mentally wiping the nervous sweat off his brow, Kenny opened the laptop again, saying, "you know, Dizzi, I wish you wouldn't tease Kai like that, because the only one who has to deal with it is me."

'_Yeah, yeah, quit whining, Chief. Anyway, you're in the clear this time. I just hope Tyson knows what he's doing.'_

"Huh, Tyson? What do you mean?"

'_Duh, Chief, who else is both brave and stupid enough to pull a prank like this on Kai and think they can get away with it?'_

"Heh, well, know that you mention it, it does seem like the kind of thing he'd do."

'_Yeah. I'm suprised at how clever he's being this time, I can't believe Kai hasn't caught on to him yet.'_

"Yeah well, I don't think his luck's going to last all that long now, Dizzi."

'_Aww, well that's a shame, I was having fun with making all those cat puns. I love cats!'_

Kenny smirked. "So does Kai."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN:_**_ YES! So I've finally managed to write something where Kenny speaks more than three words! AND has a bit of personality! Seriously, I struggle with him. It's not even like he's a third wheel in my fics – he's like the seventh or something. Don't get me wrong, I love Kenny, I just find him hard to write. Literally had to force myself through this because of him, so I hope it's okay. :)  
>Aaaanyway, I wonder what Kai's going to do now? <strong>HOW<strong> will he try and find the pranker? And **WHAT** will he do when he finds him? Tyson better watch his back, I think, because Kai's hot on his heels in purr-suit! (ba-dum-pishh :'D) LOL, I crack myself up. :')  
>See you sometime next week with an update :)<em>

~Indie


	3. For A Good Time, Call,,,

**_A/N:_**_ Here's the next update guys – I hope you're all having as much fun reading this as I am writing it! :D Many thanks to **Oltierra**, **Duchess AnimeLove **and** Artemis of Luna** for your lovely reviews to the last chapter! :)_

* * *

><p>– <strong>For A Good Time, Call...<strong>

Kai sat back in the computer chair and thought for a moment, drumming his hands on the desktop. He'd tried everything he could think of and yet he still wasn't through the log-in screen on Tyson's computer. Tyson's computer, because there wasn't anyone else who would even think of pulling a prank like this, but him. _Cat's Facts Daily,_ Kai sneered in his mind. "Well played, Tyson," he said quietly to himself, "but you'll regret it."

He'd waited all weekend for this opportunity, and all morning today for Tyson to leave the dojo for school and everybody else to leave and go about their business. He'd tried not to seem too agitated or else he'd give the game away. Tyson was still sending those texts on a regular basis, so he had to be sure that he was still in the clear. He was mistaken, of course. Kai knew all too well that it was him, but all he needed was the proof.

So here he was, sitting at Tyson's outdated Windows desktop computer, that was much slower and far less attractive than his own laptop, trying to get past the log in screen. But he couldn't for the life of him guess the password. He'd tried all sorts of mundane, but possible guesses, like 'burgers,' 'food,' 'beyblade,' 'world champ,' and even 'Hilary,' and still he had no luck. Kai vaguely wished he'd stayed on long enough at the Abbey to learn how to hack, but then he rethought that wish. The Abbey was a horrible place and he was fortunate enough to have left it when he did.

He let his eyes roam over the desk in case there was something on there that would give him some kind of clue, when a small picture frame at the back corner caught his eye. Leaning over, Kai took it in his hands and surveyed it under his crimson gaze. It was dull in colour and quite a few years old by the looks of it. In it was a young Tyson, probably no older than five or six, with an older boy who had exactly the same shade of navy hair. They were stood around a small junior bey-dish, staring down at a white beyblade that was spinning in the centre, with great, big, excited grins on their faces. The photo must've been snapped just after Tyson launched the blade, and the excitement on his face was as though he'd just launched it properly for the first time. Actually, Kai thought, that probably _was_ the case.

His eyes fell on the older boy and saw that the blue and red baseball cap on his head looked a lot like the one that Tyson was never seen without. He blinked. Wait, was it the same one?

Then he remembered. Tyson had a brother.

He never really talked about him much, or his father for that matter, so all he knew of them he'd heard off Gramps. Tyson's dad was an archaeologist and so he spent pretty much all of his time away from home. As far as he knew his brother also went away with him.

Kai's intuition was tingling. Tyson was never seen without that hat. Kai couldn't count the number of times he'd made them late because he thought he'd lost it, or how worked up he'd get when one of the boys or Hilary swiped it off his head for a laugh. If it _was_ his brother's hat, then that would explain why he was so attached to the old, worn, faded thing. He must really miss his brother. Perhaps he was the one who inspired Tyson to take up beyblading in the first place?

...What was his name? He'd heard it before, but Kai couldn't for the life of him remember what it was.

Vaguely, he tried to imagine having a brother and what it would feel like if they left. What if that person was someone you really looked up to – if they were your hero?

_Hiro._

Kai leant forward on impulse, typed in the name and his eyebrows shot up when, to his surprise, it worked. The screen cleared but for the little 'logging in…' message, and while he waited for it to load he set the picture frame exactly where it was before, and leant back with a smirk at his genius. So, Tyson was the sentimental kind then. He'd have to remember that for future exploitation. But, for now, there was something else he needed to do.

As soon as the desktop had loaded, Kai moved the mouse over to the internet explorer icon and clicked. Then, taking a look at the history tab he searched its contents, which were surprisingly clean, Kai thought. Just a whole load of wikipedia articles, some humour websites, comic scans and, ah, there it was. _A cat facts website_. Kai smirked.

Tyson obviously wasn't clever enough to just know all those things about cats, and he wasn't quite imaginative enough to make it all up. Kai knew that, if Tyson _was_ behind the prank, then he must have gotten the information from somewhere, and here it was, right in front of his eyes.

This was all the proof he needed.

With that, Kai closed the internet, shut down the computer and strode out of the room. This pranking business – it was just like beyblade, Kai thought as he walked down the hall, hands in his pockets. You have to know your enemy, know what will affect them, and bring them down before even know what hit them. Well, Kai wasn't just going to take that sitting down. No, he was going to give just as good as he got – no, perhaps even more. He'd play Tyson at his own game, _and_ he'd beat him. He'd had all weekend to mull over different ways to counter-prank, and Kai knew _just_ what he was going to do.

He smirked. Tyson was probably one of the biggest attention seekers he knew, besides Tala.

Well, he was just about to get a little more.

**––––––––––––––––––––––––––––**

"Yeah, mom, I'm _totally_ psyched for this tournament!" Max said excitedly as he walked aimlessly around Tyson's kitchen. They'd just gotten back from another long training run when his mom phoned him. It seemed like ages since they last spoke, so when he saw the caller ID on his phone, he'd answered in a heartbeat.

– _Well so am I, Maxi. I hope you've been training hard. –_

"You bet! We just got back from a training run, actually. Kai and Hil barely give us a moment to catch our breath. What about you and the All Starz, how's that replacement blader fitting in?"

– _It's funny you should ask, Maxi. We all had a lot of trouble from Rick for quite a while, and he didn't seem to want to cooperate at all. He and Michael really clashed. But just this week he's been shaping up. So you and the rest of the Bladebreakers had better be at the top of your game, because we aren't pulling any punches, not even for you. –_

"Haha," Max laughed, feeling the adrenaline of competition run through his veins, even though the tournament itself wasn't for another month. He opened the fridge and pulled out an orange-juice-box. He cradled the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he poked the straw through the little hole in the top, saying, "Right back at'cha, mom. Hey, I hope Michael's as psyched for a rematch as I am."

– _Oh he really is, Maxi, like you wouldn't even know. And he's determined to beat you, this time. He says his ego won't allow him to lose to 'little Max' a second time around. –_

"Hah, well you tell him from me that his ego better get used to being second place."

– _Haha, such confidence, Maxi! I think you've been spending a little too much time with Tyson. –_

Max smiled. "Well, what can I say. You are who you hang out with or… something like that," he said as he walked out of the kitchen and towards the lounge. Then he stopped right in the middle of his step, blinked, and then blinked again, not entirely sure exactly _what_ the hell he was even seeing. "Uhh…Kai? What are you doing?"

"Shut up, Max."

Max blinked again, seriously disturbed. "Mom," he said into the phone, "uhh, I'm gonna call you back, okay?" He hung up and put the cell phone back into his pocket. He'd just walked into the lounge, juice-box in hand, ready to chill out on the couch and carry on talking to his mom when he was bombarded by a sight that could only be described as _seriously freaky,_ and immediately decided that there was no way he could just ignore it_._

Tyson was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep, with his mouth wide open. Kai was leaning over him and, for some reason that Max did not understand (and didn't know whether he even _wanted_ to understand) was pulling up his shirt. Then, he carefully repositioned Tyson's arms so that one was above his head and the other was on his chest, as if he'd accidentally pulled the shirt up in his sleep himself, exposing his abs for all to see.

"…Seriously, Kai –"

"I said _shut_ _up_," he said quietly, taking a step back and pulling out his iPhone. Then, just as Max thought this couldn't get any freakier, Kai began scouting different shooting angles as if trying to get the perfect shot for a photograph. Apparently having found one, he smirked evilly and Max heard the sound of the camera shutter as the picture was taken. Then, he stood up and looked straight at Max. "Don't worry, it's not for my benefit," he said nonchalantly.

"Umm, so, err...do I even want to ask?"

"Not really," Kai said, pocketing the phone. Then he turned on his heel and made to walk out of the room. But before he left, he looked over his shoulder and said, "You might wanna cover him up, before Hilary walks in and passes out or something. Oh, and not a word of this to _him_. Got it?"

"Uhh….right," Max said, without even noticing that Kai had already left without waiting for a response, as usual. He looked a little awkwardly at Tyson, who was still so vulnerably sprawled out on the couch. He spared a minute to consider how exactly he was gonna pull that shirt back down, and imagined what he'd do if Tyson woke up while he was leaning over him. But then Max just shook his head and left the room. Better to leave it as it was than risk things getting weirder than they already were.

Walking out into the yard, he made a quick mental note _never_ to fall asleep around Kai during the day.

**–––––––––––––––––––––––––––**

"We are going to check that book out, Tyson, because I'm not just gonna let you copy from me _again._"

"Arghh, but Hilary! You always do, so why change your mind now?"

"Because, Tyson, this end of term project actually counts towards our grade and I am _not_ letting you take credit for all of _my_ hard work. So you're gonna have to do your own damn research for a change!"

"Ughhh!"

"Shhh! _Ty_-son, we're in a library!" she hissed.

Hilary had Tyson by the wrist and was furiously marching him through the aisles of the main Bakuten library. They had a report to write on modern world history, about any topic they wanted, and it was due in next week. Hilary had, of course, already finished hers. Tyson hadn't even started yet.

"But Hil," he whined, "it's not in 'til next Wednesday!"

"I know, Tyson. And it's Tuesday today. Do you know how long that gives you? Nine days, and that's including today!"

"Yeah, that's plenty of time!"

"It is not!"

"Oh, hey Kai, what're you doing here?" Tyson said, all too eager to change the subject.

"Huh," Hilary said, looking over to the side. Sure enough, there Kai was furtively going around the bookshelves. He looked really shifty and out of place in the library surrounded by all these books, probably because he always spent so much time outside. "Oh, Kai, what're you doing here?"

"Hn. Nothing," Kai grunted. Hilary was, once again, astounded by Kai's ability to quite happily say nothing at all.

"Small world, huh?" Tyson said aimlessly, just filling the silence. Trust Tyson to flap his lips when he thought there wasn't enough noise going on. "So Kai, what are you _really_ doing here, then? The only reason people ever come to the library is if they're nerds, or have a thing for nerds."

Kai just rolled his eyes and Hilary thought she saw the ghost of a smirk tugging at his lips. But she ignored it. Tyson was stalling for time. Tugging on his wrist, she said, "Come on, Tyson, stop bothering Kai. _You_'_ve_ got a book to be checking out, remember?"

"I'm not bothering anyone, I'm just – oh hey, who's _that_?" Tyson said curiously, peering over her shoulder.

"Huh, who?" Hilary said, looking over to where his eyes were pointing.

Then Tyson wrenched his wrist out of her grasp and laughed triumphantly, "Haha, yeah! You snooze you lose, Hilary!" He began running his way out of the library, dodging the people browsing the bookshelves who shot him irritable looks as he passed.

"Tyson!" Hilary cried, completely forgetting that she was in a library and supposed to be keeping her voice down, "Get back here!" She ran off after him, absolutely determined to make him find a topic to write about. This project was really important, just how could he be so laid back about it!

Reaching the doors, she saw that Tyson was already on the other side of the road with his hands on his hips and a challenging grin on his face, as if to say 'come get me, then.' Oh that boy, she thought irritably. Well, she wasn't going to humour him today. "You know, Tyson, if you don't get back over here right now," she yelled threateningly over the road to him, "I'm gonna check out a really boring book for you to write about! Like the Cold War or something!"

"Go ahead! Then you'll have already done half the work for me!" He called back, grinning smugly.

"Ugh! You're impossible!" She shouted, throwing her hands up into the air and marching back into the library. Oh, she was going to find him a _really_ boring topic now. So boring he'd _wish_ he just stayed with her and chose one himself.

She couldn't see Kai anywhere so, with no one to rant to, she began to browse the political history shelves. She tried to concentrate on finding the most boring sounding title there, but she kept on being distracted by the sound of some squealing girls over in the romance section. Squealing in the library? _Really_, just where did they think they were, Hilary thought irritably. After a few minutes of glaring irritatedly in their direction, she sighed and began to march her way over there to _kindly_ ask if they wouldn't mind shutting their mouths.

"Excuse me, but do you think you could –" she began, but then she fell quiet and blinked with confusion when she saw what they were squealing over. In one of their hands was a paper leaflet, like the ones that advertise small-time music gigs and art shows. But this one wasn't. Well, not in _that_ sense.

No, on this leaflet was a full-colour picture of Tyson, sprawled out fast asleep on the couch back at the dojo, with his shirt ruffled up and his abs out. There was writing on it too. At the top in bold letters was written '_Tyson Kinomiya – World Champion Beyblader. For a good time, call…'_ and then at the bottom was his cell phone number. What on earth…? Hilary didn't even know.

"Umm, hi," Hilary said, approaching the nearest girl. "Sorry, but where did you find that?"

"Oh," the girl replied, giggling, "just in a book. They're everywhere! Isn't he _hot! _You should _totally_ get one yourself!" She said, surrendering to more giggles. One of the girls next to her already had her phone out and was typing in the number.

Hilary stared. "Uhh, thanks," she replied distantly. Then she wandered over to the shelf and leafed through the books and, sure enough, there was one of those papers slotted in to most of the books the looked through. Something _very_ fishy was going on here. Sure, Tyson loved himself, but he wouldn't exactly go ahead and do this, it was just too stupid. It _must_ be a joke.

So then, it was obviously someone who had something to gain from going through all this effort just for a laugh. Not only that, but someone who could get into the dojo, too. Which narrowed it down quite a bit.

Come to think of it, she thought to herself, Kai was in the library just now, and did look very shifty…

Narrowing her eyes mischievously, and feeling slightly like she was some kind of detective, Hilary neatly folded the paper, pocketed it, and decided to head back to the dojo. Luckily for Tyson, the history project was completely forgotten, for now.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN:_**_ Omigosh! Kai has officially returned fire – that is a declaration of war! O:  
><em>_Haha, so, that's very sneaky of him – who knew Kai had such a devious side? How will Tyson react when he's mysteriously bombarded by a whole load of phone calls and test messages from his rabid fangirls? Will he surrender, or fire up another prank in return?  
>You'll have to wait and see. :)<em>

_~Indie _


	4. Critical Hit It's Super Effective!

_**A/N:** Hey guys, Indie here! Sorry for the wait, I've really been holding out on you guys for this Chapter, but here it is! I hope it's been worth the wait! :3  
><em>_Shout out to **Artemis of Luna**, **ayushi**, **Duchess AnimeLove**, **justareader**, **Lin**, **Oltierra** and **Rangerapprentice** for reviewing Chapter Three, and to **teggers** for Chapter One. Thank you so much for your support, and I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far! :D_

* * *

><p>– <strong>Critical hit; It's Super Effective!<strong>

"Haha, yeah! You snooze you lose, Hilary!" Tyson wrenched his wrist out from between Hilary's dainty fingers and began to sprint away from her, towards the large double doors that would take him out of this library. He couldn't _stand_ libraries – as soon as he walked in he just felt that he was losing his identity and becoming more and more _boring_ by the second! He was too young and handsome to be boring!

"Tyson!" he heard Hilary cry after him, "Get back here!"

Too late, Tyson thought, she was never going to catch up – not against _his_ athletic prowess. Honestly, he was a freaking s_tallion! _As soon as he reached the foyer, he completely ignored the small line of people queueing up at the turnstile, and instead vaulted himself over the library's front desk and outside the double doors.

Ah, fresh air! Tyson spent a moment to inhale deeply, trying to get rid of the boredom that was surely trying to worm its way into his mind after spending so long (all of five minutes) in that stuffy place. Quickly looking left and right, he sprinted across the road and then turned around to face the library – Hilary should be popping outside those doors any second now.

Bingo.

"You know, Tyson," she yelled threateningly, cupping her hands around her mouth. She didn't seem at all pleased with his arrogantly challenging pose across the road at her. "If you don't get back over here right now, I'm gonna check out a really boring book for you to write about! Like the Cold War or something!"

"Go ahead!" Tyson grinned smugly, "then you'll have already done half the work for me!"

He snickered heartily at her response. "Ugh!" she cried, throwing her hands exasperatedly into the air, "you're impossible!" Then she turned on her heel huffily and marched back into the library with her shoulders stiff and her little hands balled into fists.

Tyson himself turned on his heel and, with a big grin on his face and a spring in his step, began to make his way across town. He was just thinking of phoning Max on his cell and asking if he'd like to skive off training and kill a couple of hours at the arcade, when his own cell began to ring. Thinking it was the blonde himself, he laughed as he pulled his blackberry out. Well, great minds think alike, after all.

Not bothering to check the caller ID, Tyson just answered with a lazy, "Heell-llooo –"

– _AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! –_

"– Waahhhh, shit!" Tyson yelled out in shock, jumped backwards and dropped his phone in horror of the high pitched girly scream that just assaulted his eardrum.

What the _hell_ was _that?_

Ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from the passers by, Tyson bent down apprehensively to pick up the cell that was still squealing over the speaker. Holding it away at arms length, he squinted at the screen and saw that the call was from a cell number that he didn't recognize. Irritatedly bringing the phone within shouting range of his own lungs, but not painfully within range of his ears, he yelled, "who is this?"

When the high pitched squeals seemed to escalate, and he thought he heard one of them say _'oh my god it really is him!'_, Tyson's eyebrow twitched. And then his eyes narrowed. _Fangirls._ How the _hell_ did they get his number?

"Hey, I dunno who this is but I'm hanging up now!" he warned, still holding the phone some distance away from his ear. Then, when the _'aaaaahhhhh's_ morphed into _'noooooooo's_, he killed the call. "Jeeeez," he said to himself, looking down warily at his cell phone as though it might bite him at any moment. It wasn't like he'd never had to deal with fangirls before and, if he was honest, the attention _was_ kinda nice. He really didn't mind hoards of girls screaming his name in the crowds at the bey-stadium, or outside the area where they lined up, just to get a glimpse of his dashingly handsome face.

But what he _did_ mind was them screaming his name right up in his ear. Just how the hell did they get his number anyway? His mind immediately flitted to Hilary. _She_ was a girl, who spoke to _other_ girls. It's possible that it could've been her!

But then... no. She'd actually been pretty cool with him recently, and as far as he was aware, he hadn't done anything to _really_ tick her off over the last couple days anyway. It just wasn't like her to give his number out to a bunch of crazy fangirls for no reason. Was it?

"Pffft, nahhh," Tyson said to himself as he strolled down the street, readjusting his cap and lazily holding his arms behind his head, "Hil wouldn't do that to you, Tyson. She loves you!"

...But who could it have been, then? Maybe a journalist leaked it out? But he hadn't given any interviews in weeks...

Just as Tyson's brain was trying to push itself into detective investigator mode, his phone began to ring once more. "Aw, shoot," he muttered, taking it out of his pocket and, this time, checking the caller ID. Again, it was a number he didn't recognize, but he answered it anyway.

"Yeah, who is it?" he snapped irritably down the phone.

– _Tyson Kinomiya? Aaaaaaaaahhhh, it is, it's him, it's really Tyson! –_

Oh jeez, Tyson thought as he heard more screams in the background. "Hey you, fangirl – how'd you get this number?"

– _Ty-son! Tyson are you still there? I love you! –_

On an ordinary day, if he were to hear this, followed by echoes of _'me too!', 'no, I love you more, Tyson!', 'no, me, I do!', _in the background, it would just about make his day. Of course they loved him – he was the Beyblade World Champ. He was amazing!

But dammit, _this_ – this town, this street, this _cellphone –_ was _his_ world. Right now, he was just Tyson Kinomiya from Bakuten town; class-clown and notorious procrastinator. He wanted to ditch detentions, not mobs of girls! He didn't have the patience to be the famous World Champ, 24/7. He enjoyed his downtime as much as he enjoyed the peaks of fame, and today, his downtime had been compromised.

"Hey, look here, girl," he said into the phone, "just where'd you get this number?"

– _Huh? I just found it –_

"Yeah, but where?"

– _Everywhere! –_

"Huh? Whaddya mean, everywhere? He – hello?" Damn, it was really hard to hear over her stupid girly friends or whatever screaming in the background, and besides, it was starting to hurt his ears. She'd just started to say something else about books, but he couldn't be sure over all the screaming, so he just hung up with a growl instead. This time, without letting them know first. Then he put his phone on silent so he wouldn't be bothered again.

Entering the dojo ten minutes later, he found Rei in the yard, meditating on some pole balanced over the pond. Tyson smirked. Opportunity.

"Hey! Hey Rei!"

Tyson couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Rei's eyes flew open in surprise and he lost his balance. His arms flew out to steady himself but – too late. He fell in.

"Arh, Tyson! How many times do I have to ask you _not_ do do that when I'm meditating?"

"Ah, sorry bro," Tyson replied apologetically as he approached his friend, holding out a hand to help him up. "I just forget."

He was lying, of course. It was just that, in that split second before falling into the pond, Rei made the funniest face ever, each and every time. His whole face stays still and calm and emotionless, but his eyes grow really wide open with surprise. Like, super wide. It's the most bizarre thing Tyson has ever seen. It's only natural he'd want to see it again. And again.

And he figured a little water never harmed anybody anyway.

"So?" Rei said, his dark eyebrows arching up over golden eyes.

"Sooo... what?" Tyson said, fiddling with his hat, temporarily forgetting what he'd meant to ask Rei in the first place.

Rei rolled his eyes and he shifted around a little uncomfortably in his wet clothes. "So, what're you disturbing me for?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Tyson said, "Rei, have you been giving my cell phone number out to anyone?"

"Your cell number?" Rei said, blinking in confusion. "No. Why would I be giving your cell number out?"

"I dunno, but someone has. Reckoned I'd better ask around, just in case," he said, plucking his phone out again and checking the screen. He'd accumulated a whole load of missed calls and text messages since leaving the library. "Urhh, this is such a pain!"

"Who is it?" Rei asked, peering over interestedly.

Tyson lifted his dark eyes up to Rei's dramatically. _"Fangirls,"_ he said.

"Oh," Rei replied, recoiling from the phone as if somehow being too near it would transfer the fangirl-hassle to him, too. "Well, it wasn't me. But good luck with that." Then he retreated into the dojo to change his clothes.

Tyson followed him shortly after. "Hey, Maxi! Max are you here? Maaax!"

"Kitchen! I'm in the kitchen, Tyse!" he heard Max's voice call.

Tyson made his way for the kitchen and wouldn't you know it, there he was sitting on the counter, playing some Pokemon game or other judging by the music, surrounded by empty juice boxes. Tyson never understood why, but Max couldn't play video games sitting on the couch or a chair like a regular person. He always had to be sitting on a high counter, or the floor. And no one in their right mind would want to sit on the Kinomiya kitchen floor – it's definitely seen better days.

Although, since Rei arrived on the scene, it has been looking remarkably… cleaner.

"Hey, Maxi, you haven't given my cell number out to anyone, have you?"

"Huh..?" Max said, not taking his eyes off the Gameboy's screen. Hm, Emerald. Tyson remembered playing that as a kid. Max was feeling old-school today, apparently. Tyson could tell from the music that he was in a gym-battle, so he kept it simple.

"My cell number," he said.

"Yeah…"

"Someone's been giving it out."

"...Uh-huh."

"Was it you?" Tyson asked, although he highly doubted it.

"Yes!" Max cried.

Tyson blinked in shock. "What?"

"Critical hit! It's super effective!" Max said, fist-pumping the air to the sound of the little gym-battle victory tune.

"Oh! Ha, that's cool," Tyson said, laughing off the momentary feel of being betrayed by his best friend. He peered over the console, "what badge have you just got?"

"The rain badge."

"Niice. Anyway, my cell number," Tyson resumed, propping himself down on the kitchen table opposite Max, "you haven't given it to anyone have you?"

Max blinked his clear blue eyes up at him as he groped around for a juice box that wasn't empty. "No, why?"

"Tchh, just, some fan girls have gotten hold of it," Tyson said grumpily, handing his blackberry out for Max to see.

The blonde placed the Gameboy and the juice down on the counter beside him and took the phone, scrolling through the messages. "Oofh, that's rough, dude. There's gotta be like, looooads of them that have your number."

"Yeah, I know," Tyson groaned, taking his cap off and running his fingers through his hair. "It's freaking annoying."

"Hehehe, they're all like _'Tysooon, I looove youuu'_, _'you're sooo hott, omg, call me' ..._ Haha, this one's hilarious, listen to this..."

Max began to crack up at Tyson's expense as he read out the messages in a high pitched voice. Tyson just sent him an annoyed glare and seriously considered sabotaging his Pokemon save file for a brief moment.

"Dude, they're even sending you picture messages, and – oh, she's cute. She's _really_ cute. She's kinda not. She's – woaahhh!" Max cried, dropping the phone on the floor as if it was a bomb. "That one was naked!"

"What?" Tyson said, staring down at the phone on the floor in disbelief.

"Dude, I'm not joking. It was just like… skin! Like, naked, naked skin!"

Tyson picked up the phone and, sure enough, there it was, a naked red-head in some kinda butt-pose that he did not wanna see her doing right now. He didn't even believe there were girls out there who would do that – just, just send naked pictures of themselves to some guy they didn't know? He could be a freaky, jerking jerk for all they knew! He liked pretty girls, but he wasn't a dirty man-hoe.

"This is getting outta hand," Tyson said as he deleted the picture, cancelled an incoming call, and returned to the home screen.

"What're you gonna do?" Max said, blowing his fringe out of his eyes.

"Well, first I'm gonna have'ta get a new sim for this stupid thing," he said, waving the phone around irritatedly, "and then I'm gonna find out who did this and get 'em back, hard. Pah, givin' my number out to a bunch of fangirls."

"Soo, who'd'you think did it?"

"No idea," Tyson said disgruntledly, letting out a puff of air. "Not you or Rei, though. It wouldn't be the Chief – just about the only girl he can talk to is Hilary. And Dizzy, I guess. Oh, and that nerdy chick in our math class."

"Anyway, this is obviously some kinda prank, right? Maybe there's someone who's got it in for you? But Kenny isn't into that kind of thing, though," Max said, shaking his way through the juice boxes to find one that had some juice left.

"Exactly, so it couldn't be him. This is like, an evil-genius level prank."

"And what, you thought I was evil-genius level? Sweet, little old me?" Max asked, raising his blonde eyebrows at him sardonically.

"Well, they say it's the sweet one's you've gotta watch out for, Maxi," raising his eyebrows in banter, too.

"Well, they say right!" Max put on a melodramatic evil villain laugh, and Tyson laughed at how scarily convincing it actually sounded. He made a mental note to watch out for Max in the future. Just in case.

"Sooo, what about Hilary, then?" Max asked after about a minute or so. "She's a girl, so I guess she could talk to girls and give them your number?"

"Yeah, but like, what have I done to her recently? Nothing!" Tyson said, spreading his arms out wide like a man in surrender.

"Yeah, that's true actually," Max said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "She's a little crazy, but she's not unreasonable." Tyson caught his eye and started laughing again. Hilary, reasonable? On a good day, maybe. "Okay, okay," Max said between laughs, "what I mean is, she isn't _mean_. She wouldn't be nasty just for the sake of being nasty."

"Yeah... she's not Kai," Tyson agreed, grabbing one of the empty juice cartons, scrunching it up and aiming for the trash can. Yes, score! "Oh, hey," Tyson said in mid celebratory fist-pump, "what about Kai?"

"Kai?" Max asked, his voice rising as though it couldn't possibly be him.

"Yeah, you're right, it couldn't be him. That sourpuss wouldn't know a good prank if it hit him between the eyes," he said, throwing another empty juice box at the trash can. He missed.

"Hehe, yeah, Kai… Kai wouldn't," Max said, laughing a little nervously. Tyson caught on to the tone.

"...Max?"

"Huh?" Max didn't quite meet his eyes. He looked a little… embarrassed.

"What, d'you think it _is_ Kai?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing a little confusedly.

Max blinked uncertainly once, but then shook his head and replied with renewed gusto, "Heh, well, no! Of course it isn't Kai! But if _you_ did think it was him, would you wanna ask and accuse him?"

Tyson grimaced. No, he wouldn't actually. "Nahh, he's been so grouchy lately." Then he remembered that it was because of the Cat Fact texts that Kai was grouchy, and he laughed.

"Exactly," Max said with a smile. He picked up the Gameboy again and commenced playing. If it was the rain badge he'd just got, then he'd be up against the elite four next, so Tyson knew he'd be virtually unresponsive for the rest of the evening. He wondered vaguely whether the blonde was planning on going home or not. Grabbing a can of soda from the fridge, he turned to leave the kitchen. "Hey, Tyse?"

Tyson spun around. "Yeah Maxi?"

"Why don't you try ringing Hilary?" He said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "She's a girl – maybe she's heard something?"

"Hmm, I dunno. She hates fangirls more than Kai does... I don't even know if she speaks to anyone like that," he said, pouting in thought as he tried to visualize all the girls he'd ever seen Hilary talking to.

"Well, it's worth a try, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." He looked down at his pocket distastefully as his blackberry began to vibrate with another phonecall. He rolled his eyes. "I'll use the landline."

"Yeeeah."

"Don't forget to take bathroom breaks, Maxi," Tyson called over his shoulder dryly as he walked out into the hall.

"Uh-huhh."

"And clean up after yourself, don't leave your trash lying around my kitchen like always!" he called a little louder.

"Mm-hmm," he heard Max mumble back, already engrossed in the game again. Tyson didn't blame him, the elite four _were_ a big deal. But he had a more important battle of his own to fight right now.

Setting the soda can down on the table, and humming the annoyingly repetitive, but catchy Pokemon battle theme tune to himself, Tyson picked up the receiver and punched in Hilary's cell number.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Aha, so now we see the fallout from Kai's dastardly retaliation prank! Tyson is not impressed. (Pah, although perhaps a certain other blader we know might rather like something like this to happen. A certain blonde haired, blue eyed Italian? hahaha 8D )  
>So, will Max ever reveal the truth about what he saw Kai doing the other day? More importantly, will be beat the elite four? xD Just how is Tyson's conversation with Hilary going to pan out? And where did she go after leaving the library anyway? And where is Kai?<em>

_What do you readers think of the story so far? Is there anything you'd like to see happen, any 'evil-genius' level pranks you'd love Tyson or Kai to pull on each other? Let me know and I'm sure it can be arranged, haha. Until the next time!_

_~ Indie._


	5. This Isn't Over Yet!

**_A/N: _**_Hello guys! As promised, here is an update in place of Spaces for today. xD Lol, hope you all enjoy! As always, I'd like to thank my wonderful reviewers of the last chapter; **Rangerapprentice**, **MisstiqueRose**, **Desastrus**, **Artemis of Luna** and **Anjanie**. :3 _**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>This Isn't Over Yet!<strong>

Kai was a genius.

No, really, this wasn't his arrogance speaking, it was just the truth.

He was quite sure there wasn't a more effective counter-prank in the entire history of counter-pranks. And he'd pulled it off not because he was experienced, but because he was just, quite simply, a genius.

Of course, it also helped that he was rich. Very rich.

Spotting yet another beauty and hair salon on the corner of the street, Kai shifted what was left of the stack of flyers in his arms and made a bee-line for it. Striding in like he owned the place, he made his way past all the females and towards the young, powder-blue haired girl behind the counter. She was on the phone and flicking through the appointment books, so it was a few moments before she'd noticed there was anyone there. Her eyes flicked up for the briefest of milliseconds – just long enough to acknowledge a potential customer – before scanning the books again and rattling off a few dates and times.

Kai tried his best to remain patient while she attended to the person on the other end of the line, but patience never was something he was good at. Besides, the salon was stuffy, smelled too sweet, and the air was so thick with hairspray fumes he was beginning to taste it in the back of his throat. So he cleared it tetchily to get the girl's attention again.

She looked up irritatedly. Granted, she was busy – but Kai had an agenda to keep too. But then Kai saw the light of recognition dawn in her eyes and he had to restrain rolling his own.

The blue haired girl swiftly brought the phone-call to a close and spluttered, "You! You're –"

He held a hand up to stop her right there. "Yes, I'm Kai Hiwatari and, no, I'm not here for a hair cut. Look, do you own this place?"

"Err well, I'm the co-owner, I –"

"That's good enough. Listen, I want you to do something for me."

"Oh! Well okay, what –"

"– I'm sure you'll recognize this idiot," he said, placing one of Tyson's advertisements on the counter between them and twisting it around so she could see it.

"This! This is –"

"Yes, my stupid team mate. I have a score to settle and I want you," he said, placing the remainder of the stack on the counter, "to offer one of these to every girl customer you get."

Kai watched as the girl looked from the picture in her hands, to him, and then to scanning the room. She looked troubled. She obviously didn't want to do anything risky and ruin the business. "How many people work here?" he asked.

"Twelve," she said, counting in her head.

"Right, that's fine," he said, pulling out a cheque-book, since he'd ran out of notes a while back now. Her eyes grew to the size of dish plates when she saw the amount he was scribbling down. "So, that's 5000 yen for every person employed here, as well as my personal guarantee that Kinomiya will take no action against the business. You have nothing to worry about. Do we have an agreement?"

Well, either the bribe or the guarantee had twisted her arm because, less than two minutes later Kai stepped out of the salon, job done. Just like every other salon, cafe and boutique he'd hit after leaving the library this afternoon. And now every single flyer he'd had printed was gone.

Smirking, Kai checked the time on his iPhone and spared a moment to enjoy how quiet it had been recently – not a single cat text since leaving the library. Finally, peace and quiet. Mission accomplished.

If Kai had any regrets, it was that he hadn't been around to see the immediate effect of his little… counter-fire.

"Hey! Hey Kai! Kaaa~aiii!" The dual-haired captain glanced lazily over his shoulder and saw Hilary marching up the sidewalk towards him, wildly waving a hand in the air. Wonderful. What was it he'd said just a minute ago about peace and quiet? He'd obviously spoken too soon. "Hi," she said a little breathlessly after jogging the last stretch of sidewalk to catch up with him, "I've been looking all over for you."

Kai cooly placed his hands in his pockets, leant against the salon glass-front and raised an eyebrow at her. "And why is that?"

"Oh, no reason! Just... haven't seen you much today, is all," she said, smiling brightly.

Kai's eyebrows knitted together with suspicion. Yes, the girl was chatty, and yes, she wasn't above inflicting her chattiness on him – but 'looking all over' town to chat with him? Not likely. Besides, that little 'is all' that she'd tagged on at the end was a distinctly _Tyson_ thing to say.

She was up to something.

"_You've_ been at school all day," Kai stated plainly, as though she were an idiot and he had to explain the reason why she hadn't seen him much.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know that. But _you_ haven't." She folded her arms in kind and returned the speaking-to-an-idiot tone to him directly. Kai smirked. If there was any reason he'd come to tolerate Hilary with ease over the past month he'd known her, it was because she'd managed to earn his respect. She wasn't afraid to stand her ground and give what she got - even against _him_. "Just what _have_ you been doing all day while everyone's been out, anyway?"

"I've been busy."

She narrowed her eyes at him, saying cooly, "Oh, I _bet_ you have."

Okay. So she was definitely up to something. "Just what're you getting at, Hilary?"

Kai watched as she pulled out something from behind her and brandished it at his face. "Does _this_ look familiar to you?"

Kai glanced at it impassively and felt his poker face slip. It was the poster of Tyson. So _that's_ what it was all about. With the smallest of smirks, he said, "Vaguely, yeah."

Hilary smiled triumphantly. "You're not even going to try and deny it, then?"

"Deny that I've seen it?" he asked cooly. He couldn't keep a trace of smugness out of his voice. "That would be pointless, since I'm fairly certain half of Bakuten has seen it by now."

Kai enjoyed the expression of shock that flitted across Hilary's face. It was as if she could hardly believe his blatant disregard at being caught. Of course, she hadn't actually accused him yet, so it wasn't like she'd caught him doing anything. "Oh my God, you have _no_ remorse, do you?"

"None whatsoever." She laughed disbelievingly. That was as good a confession as she was going to get, they both knew it. "I'll remind you that Tyson is hardly an innocent party. _Cat Facts_ sound familiar to you?"

Hilary blinked, and then turned a shade of pink. "I will just say, I had _nothing_ to do with it." Kai narrowed his eyes at her. So she had known. Fumbling with the corner of the poster, she said, "So… you knew it was Tyson all along?"

Kai placed his hands in his pockets. "I figured that it couldn't've been anyone else but him. Just like _you_ figured out that _that_," he said, pointing to the poster, "couldn't've been anyone else but me." When she didn't say anything else, Kai said, "So what now?"

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "After this _grand accusation_ of yours, what was it you were planning on doing next?"

Hilary pouted in thought. "I don't know. Didn't think I'd make it this far. You're usually more of a brick wall than this," she said slyly.

Kai raised an eyebrow at that.

Then a cell phone rang, and Hilary dived into her bag to answer the call. Flicking her bangs out of her eyes, she smiled and said, "Hello? Oh, hi Tyson."

Her eyes flickered stealthily over to Kai. They could both tell where this conversation would go.

"Your cell number?" she said into the phone, feigning shock. "Now just _why_ would I have given your cell number out to a bunch of fangirls? I _hate_ your fangirls – they're even more annoying than _you_ are."

Kai smirked. He'd be willing to bet that wasn't the only reason she hated his fangirls.

"Yeah, well you better be sorry, Tyson. I can't _believe_ you'd accuse me like that. ––––– You asked Max and Rei too? What is wrong with you? ––––– Kai? Well, it's funny you should mention that, since I'm with him right now, actually. ––––– Never you mind what we're doing, we're not doing anything! ––––– Look, do you want to speak to him, or don't you?"

Huffily, Hilary held the phone out for him to take. He didn't particularly want to speak to Tyson over Hilary's blackberry – he was sure the pearlescent pink thing wouldn't do anything for his image. But in the end, the sadist inside him won and he decided he'd rather hear Tyson's utter frustration than worry about the way he looked.

"Yes?" he snapped down the mouthpiece.

– _Alright Kai, don't bother tryn'a deny it, 'cause I know it was you! – _

Kai smirked cruelly. Tyson was well and truly wound up. He decided to draw it out a little. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific than that, Tyson. I have no idea what you're talking about." Kai's smirk widened as he heard Tyson explode on the other end of the line.

– _Aaarrrghhh, dammit Kai, I said don't try and deny it! You've been sneaking around giving my cell number to a bunch of crazy fangirls, haven't you! –_

"Tch, Tyson, I don't _sneak_."

– _Would'ya just answer question already! –_

"You had it coming to you."

– _What? What the hell does that even mean? –_

"And, if it's not too much trouble, you can stop sending me those idiotic cat texts now," Kai said, his polite tone dripping with sarcasm. There was a spluttering down the phone as Tyson was caught completely off guard.

– _Wha, but you – but I – bah! Alright, who told you? Was it Hilary? –_

"Don't _insult_ me. No one told me. Did you honestly believe I wouldn't've figured you out eventually?"

– _Oh, so this is your idea of gettin' back at me, huh? –_

"You could say that."

– _But dude! This is like, total overkill! You're crazy, man! –_

"No Tyson, you're just an idiot with low standards."

– _That's IT! This isn't over yet! This is war, Kai, you hear me? WAR! –_

The call abruptly ended and Kai spared a moment to savour the image of Tyson angrily slamming down the phone back at the dojo, before handing the bean-shaped thing back to Hilary. But she was currently admiring a photograph of some hairstyle or other that was displayed on the salon window and hadn't noticed.

"I wouldn't," Kai said, "your hair's short enough already."

Hilary blinked her ruby eyes and looked around. "...huh?"

"Nothing. Here." He tossed the phone to her.

"Oh, over already? What did Tyson say?"

Kai folded his arms. "He's declared war on me," he said dryly.

Hilary face palmed. "Oh no … He's not serious, is he?"

"Of course he is," Kai said, finally pushing his weight off the salon window, putting his hands in his pockets and getting ready to leave. "Stupidity is the only thing he's ever serious about."

–––––––––––––––––––––––

As he was pulling on some new, dry clothes in the guest bathroom in the dojo, Rei could hear Tyson shouting. Of course, this was nothing new – Tyson's voice was so loud that even his regular speech might sound like shouting to anyone who didn't know him. But this was different. This was shouting with a cause. Of course, since there was no one in the dojo but he and Max, Rei didn't quite know that the cause was.

Giving his wet clothes one more wring over the bathtub to try and squeeze a little more water out of them, he paused to listen. He thought he heard Kai's name, but he was sure Kai wasn't back yet. Shrugging, he dumped his clothes in the laundry and left the bathroom.

"But dude! This is like, total overkill! You're crazy man!"

Walking past Tyson in the hall on his way to the kitchen, Rei could see that he was on the phone. But the navy haired blader was so enraged, apparently, that he didn't notice him walk by. Entering the kitchen, Rei saw that Max was _still_ attached to he kitchen counter, _still_ playing on his little game. He picked it up right after Kai dismissed them all after practice before Tyson left for school this morning, and apparently hadn't put it down since.

"… Please tell me you've moved off that counter today, Max." He sure hoped so judging by the number of juice boxes surrounding him.

"Huh..?" The blonde blinked up and looked around, having heard the sound of his name but apparently nothing else besides.

Rei pulled an orange out of the fruit bowl on the table and started to peel it. "Seriously, I think that thing's rotting your brain or something."

"Wha – no! I'm developing my strategic abilities, actually," Max said defensively. "If I don't go into my battle against the Elite Four with a well-balanced, type-effective team, I can say goodbye to facing the –"

"– That's IT! This isn't over yet! This is war, Kai, you hear me? WAR!"

Max and Rei exchanged a baffled look with one another as they heard Tyson angrily slam the phone down on the handset. Two seconds later and the Japanese teen stormed into the room, all guns blazing.

"Arrrghh! He has _no idea who he's messing with_!"

"…. What's up, Tyson?" Rei asked warily, not entirely sure if he wanted to hear the answer, but half knowing that the hot-headed blader would end up ranting about it anyway.

"What's up? That stupid Kai is what's up!" Tyson threw his hands up in the air. "You know, it was only _him_ who gave my cell number to all those fangirls!"

"What? No, you're joking," Rei said. He couldn't even see Kai really talking to girls at all, let alone crazy fangirls.

"Do I look like I'm joking, Rei? He even as good as admitted it!"

"But why would he do that?"

"Tchh, 'cause I played that stupid little cat-fact prank on him," Tyson said grouchily, pulling his cap off and twisting it around in his grip.

Rei rolled his eyes. He knew the navy-haired teen would get caught out eventually. He was a fool for messing with Kai in the first place – whenever their captain decided to retaliate, he always had a way with taking things a little too far. "Well, there you have it then," Rei said, throwing the last of the orange peel into the trash can and placing a wedge in his mouth.

"No! No I don't! _I_ was just having a bit of fun – but Kai always goes overboard! This isn't a game anymore – my phone hasn't stopped buzzing all day!" he cried, pulling out his cell phone to demonstrate. He threw it down on the table and, true enough, there wasn't a second that went by without it vibrating and flashing with a call or text. "Argh! I just wish I knew how he did it, is all!"

There was a sound from the side of the room as Max choked on the juice-box he was drinking. Pink-eyed and spluttering, he said, "Ah, sorry g – guys. Wr – wrong hole."

Tyson narrowed his eyes at him. "… You know something, don't you?"

"Huh?" Max said, his baby blue eyes were still watering slightly, and they were wide with feigned innocence. "Like, like what, Tyse?"

"Oh, I don't know Maxi. Like something about _Kai?_ You were actin' weird before, too!"

"Ahh, okay okay, chill out," he said, holding his hands up before him. Poor Max, Rei thought. He never could lie to a friend, even to save his own skin apparently. "Look, it was just too weird, alright? I didn't know what he was doing!"

"Who, Kai?" Rei asked, now intrigued.

"Well yeah. I, err…"

"What, Maxi?" Tyson said, folding his arms and tapping a foot on the floor impatiently.

Max was squirming uncomfortably. Clearly, he didn't know how to say whatever is was he was trying to say. "Well, yesterday – after we came back from that run – my mom called, and I was talking to her, and you were napping on the couch and I, errr… I saw, well, I _think_ I saw Kai, umm –"

"– Tyy-son! Hey, Tyson are you home?"

Tyson rolled his eyes at the interruption, but didn't bother answering. So Rei did instead. "We're all in the kitchen, Chief," he called over his shoulder.

"Just tell me what you saw, Maxi."

"But Tyson, it's weird! I saw him taking –"

"– Tyson! Have you, err, have you seen this?" Kenny asked, leaning against the doorframe, holding up a piece of paper. Rei thought it looked like he'd ran all the way here.

Averting his gaze to the paper in Kenny's hand, Rei had to rub his eyes and take a second look because he was sure they were playing tricks on him. Apparently not, though, because right there on the paper before him was a picture of Tyson sleeping on the couch in the lounge, with his shirt revealing instead of concealing, and a caption saying, "_Tyson Kinomiya, World Beyblading Champion. For a good time call …"_ followed by his cell number. It had to have been his real number too, Rei recognised the last few digits.

"No. Way." Tyson said disbelievingly, staring at the thing with dark, wide eyes. It was a few minutes before he regained control of his vocal organs. "But that's – I don't – there's no way – I can't believe –_ where did you get that?"_ he spluttered.

"They were handing them out at the cafe down my road," Kenny said. He put it down on the table before pulling out a chair and sitting down. "But I think they're everywhere else too. There was this girl who had one from the salon already apparently, but she still asked for some more at the cafe to err, pass around to her friends."

Tyson looked absolutely dumbfounded. Rei didn't blame him, he _definitely_ wouldn't like something like this floating around town.

Tyson turned to Max incredulously. "Is this what you saw him doing?"

The blonde shrank a little. Throwing his hands out like an innocent man, he said, "Dude, Tyson, I had _no_ idea he was going to do something like _that, _I swear!"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Tyson asked, his voice cracking amusingly.

"What was I supposed to say, that I walked in on him tryn'a take your clothes off and take pictures? It was too weird, bro! All I wanted to do was chill out and talk to my mom on the phone," he pouted.

At the sight of Max's 'I'm-sorry-I-had-no-idea' face, Tyson backed off, collapsed down into the chair next to Kenny, and groaned. "Man, this is _SO_ not funny!"

"What're you gonna do about it, Tyse?" Rei asked with upturned lips, slightly amused by the whole ordeal.

"I'm gonna get back at him is what I'm gonna do," Tyson said stubbornly. "All I need is…" he trailed off, looking speculatively around at Rei.

"Oh no," Rei said, waving his hands and the orange up in the air, "you are _not_ dragging me into this one, Tyson."

"Dude, this is a matter of honour!" he cried passionately, banging a fist on the table like some kind of warlord at a meeting. "Aren't the Chinese all about honour and stuff like that?"

Rei laughed outright, "Sure, but it's not your _honour_ that's been hurt now, is it? Besides, you started it."

"Oh come on," Tyson appealed, "so you're taking _his_ side now?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm staying out of it –"

"– But what about a little… Asian solidarity here!"

"Kai's Asian too, remember?"

"Kai doesn't count! He grew up in Russia, he's – his Asian's been tainted!"

Rei burst out laughing at this point. Tyson's logic just left the building. "What about Max?" he asked. The blonde grew up in America after all.

"Yeah, what about me?" the half-Japanese said, smirking at Tyson a little challengingly.

"Ya, well, you only play American, dyeing your hair and all! Besides, you're more Asian on the inside 'cause… 'cause you love noodles!" Tyson said, throwing his arms up. Then he pointed a finger, "And anyway, you owe me, Maxi. Coverin' up for Kai like that – I'm supposed to be your bestest buddy!" he whined.

Max sighed. He never could stand the guilt treatment. "Fine, then. But I'm not doing anything illegal..." he pouted.

Tyson turned to Kenny. "What about you, Chief? You fancy fighting against the dark side?" he asked, prodding his small, bespectacled friend in the ribs.

"Huh? Nooo Tyson, I'm not –"

"Come on Chief, don't be a baby, it's only Kai –"

"– _Only_ Kai? Tyson, he's _Kai!_ I really don't wanna –"

"– But Chief, this is war!"

"No, Tyson, this is… this is stupid stupid! You know what he's like!"

"That's why we have to show him!"

"Show him what, exactly?" the Chief asked scathingly.

"That he can't just walk all over me, of course!"

"Hah! And how are you gonna do that, Tyson?"

"Easy, I'm gonna give him as good as I get is all."

And with that, arms folded stubbornly, eyes closed arrogantly, Tyson promptly decided that the conversation was concluded.

Rei rolled his eyes and shook his head as he chewed on the last wedge of orange. Tyson was playing with fire, apparently forgetting which one of their team was actually allied with the fire-bird.

There was no way this could end well.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Well, there we have it. Not much going on besides an OFFICIAL declaration of war. Oh dear, I wonder what poor Max has been dragged into now – all he wants to do is face off against the elite four! Is that so much to ask? xD_

_I wonder what side Hilary's going to choose in this war? Will Kenny and Rei manage to remain neutral? And what will Tyson do to return fire? Honestly, I have no idea, but I hope he remembers to keep it pg-13 or else I'll have to up the rating to T. XD  
><em>

_D'you hear that Tyson? You behave yourself!  
><em>

_~ Indie  
><em>


	6. Fine, But You Owe Me A Solid

_**A/N: **First of all, I would like to thank all of you wonderful reviewers of the last chapter: **Anjanie**, **MisstiqueRose**, **some stuff**, **Guest**, **GARUNA**, **Rangerapprentice** and **jottlover 91**. And also **Winter-Angel17** for reviewing the first chapter. I appreciate all of your kind words. :')  
><em>

_You'll be please to hear that I have plans for at least another two chapters after this. But I really am running on empty, so if there's anything you guys want to see then I'll be more than happy to include it! :D  
><em>

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><p>– <strong>Fine. But You Owe Me A Solid.<strong>

"Come on Maxi, lighten up! Kenny's gonna think something's up if you're not bouncing around like normal."

"Tyse, he's gonna think something's up anyway, what with you ditching school all day. And I don't bounce," he added defensively as an afterthought.

"Half. It's Wednesday, remember? I only have a half-day on Wednesdays. And dude, you really do bounce."

"I really don't. And Chief's still gonna know you were missing..."

"Which is why we ran to the library to get _this_ before coming here," Tyson said smugly, wiggling around the book in his left hand. "For all he knows, I've been in there all morning tryn'a find a research topic for my history paper."

"Yeah, like he'll believe that," Max muttered, pouting a little. He shoved his hands down his pockets as he and Tyson stopped on the sidewalk to look for traffic before crossing the road.

Max felt like a criminal.

The morning started off as most other mornings did. He woke up, took a shower and went down to the kitchen to grab some cereals, like most mornings. He managed to catch and say goodbye to his dad before he left to go to work at their beyblade workshop, like most mornings. However, when Max was about half-way through his bowl of sugar-puffs he heard the doorbell ring – quite unlike other mornings. Getting up to open the other door, he found Tyson on the other side grinning like a loon – _most_ unlike other mornings, seeing as the teen was supposed to be at school.

It was in that moment that Max knew something was up. And it was in the moment after Tyson explained why he was at Max's door that the blonde knew something _bad_ was up.

He and Tyson had spent all morning and afternoon stalking Kai. Of course, Tyson refused to call it that. He'd said that they were following him, tailing him, doing a stake-out, keeping him under-surveillance, gathering intel and all other ridiculous names that dumbed down the fact that they were _stalking Kai._

Apparently, Tyson was one-hundred percent serious about getting back at him. He said it was imperative that they gathered intel on Kai that day so that he could get back at him good and proper. Max didn't even know Tyson had such a word as 'imperative' in his vocabulary, let alone know what it meant or how to use it. Still, the navy-haired teen was adamant that he should do it, and that Max should be his stake-out partner.

Curiosity eventually got the better of him and Max agreed. He'd always kind of wondered what their stoic captain got up to while everyone was out of the dojo or at school. Turns out that he didn't do anything too much out of the ordinary – ordinary for Kai, at any rate.

When he and Tyson snuck back to the dojo, Kai was still there practicing with Dranzer in the yard. Grandpa Ryuu came out at some point with a glass of lemonade and made some small-talk with him – Kai even cracked a couple of quality one-liners. Max was surprised (and Tyson slightly offended) at just how sociable Kai could be when the _pressure_ of being sociable wasn't hanging over him.

Regardless, at about ten-thirty Kai headed back inside the dojo, only to come out about five minutes later with a drawstring sports bag slung over his back and his jogging kit on. This was the part of the morning that had Tyson griping the most. In order to follow Kai, they actually had to jog about after him, all the while keeping quiet so they didn't give themselves away. It was very difficult work – especially since Kai seemed to have a preference for running uphill – and if it wasn't for the fact that Tyson was suicidally stubborn, they would have given up.

After what must have been about eight miles, their captain had slowed to a stop outside this small cafe and grabbed a quick lunch. Max and Tyson were absolutely beat and gratefully took advantage of the opportunity to catch their breath. There they were, once again, taken by surprise as Kai acquiesced to a little small talk with the cafe owner. It was beginning to look like the only people he _didn't_ like to socialize with was his team, Max thought unhappily.

After Kai was done with lunch, his next stop was the beach. Not the main beach, though. The dual-haired blader had found a spot away from the main coast – this nice, isolated little bay. Max guessed that the reason it wasn't used much was because it was quite rocky in comparison to the sandier, commercial stretch of beach. Anyway, Tyson thought this was great because he and the blonde weren't short of places to hide.

Max thought the opposite, though, because the next part of the afternoon got weird. He couldn't exactly speak for Tyson, but Max himself wasn't too keen on the idea of watching their captain strip down for an afternoon swim. Thankfully though, Kai was prudish enough to leave his underwear on.

After about an hour of swimming, Kai made his way back to dry land, changed into a dry set of clothes and made his way back to the dojo. There, he disappeared inside again. Twenty minutes of no-show later and Tyson braved the chance of peeping through the windows, at which point he saw that Kai was napping, ("D'aww, check it out Max," he said, a little too chipper before breaking out into a snicker, "Kai's so _cute_ when he's sleeping!"). It was then that Tyson thought he'd gathered enough information on Kai and formulated a quick master plan.

Anyone who knew Kai also knew that he was a creature of habit. If this is what he'd done today, he probably did it everyday, (which seemed likely enough considering the fact that he was on a first-name basis with that small cafe's owner). While Max was left slightly in awe at their captain's dedication to maintaining his fitness, Tyson just saw a big, fat opportunity.

So now here they were heading down the street towards Kenny's house, initiating Phase Two of Tyson's plan. The phase which had Max feeling like even more of a criminal than the first.

"So, you remember the plan, Maxi?" Tyson asked, rubbing his hands excitedly as Kenny's place above his parents' noodle shop came in to view.

"Yeah," Max replied, kicking at the sidewalk.

"Dude, come on, stop dragging your feet."

"Tyson, I don't feel too good about this. Remember yesterday when I said I didn't wanna do anything illegal –"

"– We're not doing anything illegal, Max," Tyson said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes.

"But we're stealing Kenny's ca –"

"– _Borrowing_. We are borrowing Kenny's camera. With every intention of bringing it back."

Max pouted, "I still don't like it."

Tyson stopped in the street for a moment and turned to face his friend. "Max, I _need_ to do this. Don't you think Kai was way outta line doing what he did?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. But –"

"– But nothing. I can't just let him get away with something like that. Come on buddy, I need your help with this," he said, putting on his puppy dog face. "Please?"

Max just chewed on his lip and shuffled his feet around on the sidewalk uncomfortably, digging his hands a little further into his pockets.

"Dude," he continued, "if you're worried about Kai, I'll _totally_ take the heat for it. This is my war after all." Tyson put on his most winning smile. "But you know... I really am nothing without my wingman."

Max rolled his eyes and smiled in spite of himself. "Tchh, fine." Then he took a hand out of his pocket and lightly punched Tyson in the shoulder, "but you owe me a solid – a big one."

Tyson pantomimed crossing his heart and grinned. "Anything you want, Maxi. Scouts honour."

–––––––––––––––––

'_Looks like you've got company, Chief.'_

Kenny folded the page of the social sciences book he was reading for school, placed it down on his desk and swiveled around on his computer chair. "Tell me about it," he said unenthusiastically, listening to the uncivilized thumping up the stairs that signaled to him the arrival of two overly energetic people. "I wonder what they want..." he said, running a tired hand through his hair and adjusting his spectacles.

'_I'm sure we'll find out soon enough,' _Dizzi said as the thumping reached a crescendo.

"Hey, Kenny!" Tyson said, bursting into his room with all the bravado of a person who thought he was the life-and-soul of the party. He was followed shortly by a meekly grinning Max who was cradling a steaming bowl of noodles in his arms, courtesy of Kenny's mother.

"Hi guys," Kenny said. "What's up?"

'_Yeah, to what do we owe this pleasure?'_

Kenny wrinkled his nose in distaste as Tyson plopped himself down on his bed, throwing his covers out of place.

"Just thought we'd drop by is all. Haven't seen you all day!" Tyson said, throwing his arms back behind his head as he lounged back lazily like the slob he was.

"Well that's not surprising," Kenny replied tetchily, "since you ditched school today. Which might I add, is completely unaccepta – Tyson, get your shoes off my bed!"

Tyson immediately threw his feet up and held up his hands out like a man pleading innocence. Balancing there with his limbs in the air like an overturned tortoise, he said, "Jeez Kenny, chillax!" Then he laughed and rolled off the bed, sitting cross-legged on the floor instead. "Better?"

"I guess," Kenny replied.

Kenny watched as Max plopped himself down next to Tyson and began slurping up the noodles.

"So?" he said.

Tyson blinked up at him. "So what?"

Kenny rolled his eyes. "So why weren't you at school today?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I went to the library," Tyson replied, taking off his cap and scratching the back of his head.

At this, the laptop on the desk began to laugh. _'You? At the library? That's a good one, Tyson.'_

The navy-haired blader stood up, walked over to the desk and narrowed his eyes at her in mock-offence. "I ain't joking, Dizzi – I've been there all morning! What'd'you think I am, some kind of... neanderthal?"

'_That's a little far up the evolutionary chain, don't you think?'_

Kenny laughed. "Well, our Tyson's nothing if not ambitious."

"Oh ha ha," Tyson snarked back at them. "But I didn't come here for jokes and games, Diz, sorry." At that, he promptly closed the laptop shut with a smug little grin, saying, "Don't know about you Dizzi, but to me that looks like Neanderthal: One – Laptop: Zero."

Kenny wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but after shutting the laptop he could've sworn the navy-haired blader sent his blonde friend a meaningful look. But he shook it off. Sometimes, those two were just worked on a different wavelength from everyone else. Anyhow, after this potentially meaningful look, Tyson leant his weight back on the desk and looked at Kenny, smiling dumbly.

He raised an eyebrow at him. Granted, it was an eyebrow hidden beneath his glasses and his hair, but it was raised all the same. "So, the library. Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. I was seriously, seriously there."

"I don't buy it."

"I can vouch for him, Chief," Max said. "I was there too, studying for my Chemistry final."

"Pff, studying, he says," said Tyson, rolling his eyes.

"Studying I was! Until you came in, obviously."

Kenny sighed. He was studying too, until these two clowns walked in.

The reason they were all studying was because they'd been entered for a few exams ahead of time, since they'd all be leaving for the tournament in about three weeks. They'd gotten leave from school to attend, but they still had to make up for what they'd miss.

"Yeah well, I needed the help of my bestest buddy, didn't I? And besides, you get to study whenever," Tyson said nonchalantly.

"You," Max said, pointing his chopsticks at Tyson in mock threat, "need to stop underestimating my home-schooling. I have papers to write and exams to sit, just like you."

"Yeah, but –"

"– Okay okay, can we _please_ just get to the point of your visit?" Kenny pleaded. He had _a lot_ do do this afternoon, and Tyson really wasn't helping anything.

"Oh, sorry Chief. Well I checked this book out from the library for my history paper –"

"– you _still_ haven't started on that?"

"I have now! I checked out the book didn't I?" he replied, getting defensive."So I just thought I'd come and, er… ask you for a few pointers?" he said, smiling meekly and fiddling with his cap.

Kenny knew it. "Fine," he said huffily, knowing that the quickest way to get rid of Tyson so he could continue studying was to help him. "So, where's this book then?"

"Awesome. 'Kay, it's just – huh?" Tyson said, making a grand show of looking around disorientedly. "Oh, shoot – I left it on the counter downstairs. C'mon Chief!"

"Wahh, Tyson? How many times do I have to ask you _not_ to drag me around like a rag-doll?" Kenny moaned as he was grasped roughly by the wrist and all but hurled down the stairs.

Walking back into the noodle-shop, Tyson found the book on the main-counter and tossed it to Kenny. The bespectacled brunette took one look at the cover and scoffed skeptically as he leafed through it. "Japan's post-occupational political crisis? Are you sure you wanna write about this, Tyson?" Kenny asked.

"Sure, there's loads to write about, right?" Tyson said. He was tapping his foot agitatedly and kept looking up at the ceiling.

"Post-occupational Japan is just after the Cold War. You do know that?"

Tyson looked at him impatiently and folded his arms. "Tch, of course I know _that_. The Cold War was lame – a total non-event. But after there was all those riots and protests about that US protection treaty thing in the Sixties, right? I figured I could write about that."

Kenny blinked, astounded. "...So you do listen in history class."

Tyson grinned roguishly. "Pff, nah... Only in that one lesson. We had that hot substitute teacher, remember?"

"You're unbelievable," Kenny muttered, shaking his head.

Just then, Kenny heard the pounding of feet coming back down the stairs and a second later, Max bounced over to them, his bowl now quite without noodles. "Dudes, I've totally gotta be off now. But thank your mom for the noodles for me, will you Chief?"

"Uhh, sure Max."

"Hey, Maxi, wait for me!" Tyson said, snatching the book away and dashing off after the blonde.

"But Tyson! Wait! What about your… paper," Kenny finished lamely as the door shut behind him.

He shook his head. He'd never get those two.

–––––––––––––––––

Max exited the noodle shop in a hurry and continued down the street, trying to act normal. He still couldn't get over how smoothly the operation went. All the lying, the joking, Tyson taking care of Dizzi so that Max was free to snoop around for the camera – it all went too smoothly for Max's liking, and that was doing nothing for the knot of guilt he felt squirming around in his stomach. Tyson owed him big time.

Speaking of which, he heard Tyson's footsteps following him and, a few seconds later, the navy-haired teen had caught up.

"So, dude, did you get it?"

"...Yeah, I got it," Max said, pulling the small digital camera out of his pocket.

"Aw yes!" Tyson said excitedly, fist-pumping with his right hand as he took the camera from Max with his left. "That went totally as smooth as I thought it would. You were awesome back there, by the way."

"Jeez, Tyse, you say that like stealing from our friend is a good thing," he mumbled. "I feel _awful_ – Kenny didn't suspect a thing and I just stole his camera from right under his nose!"

Max practically heard the swish of Tyson's eyeballs as he rolled them this time. He had the vague impression that if he rolled them any more today, they'd fall out. The boy had no sense of morality. "Borrowing, Maxi," he said stubbornly. "We are borrowing this camera from our friend."

"Whatever. Just… please don't make me do something like that again," the blonde said, sighing and shoving his hands back into his pockets.

"Sure, sure," Tyson said nonchalantly, placing the camera in his own pocket and throwing his arms lazily behind his back. "So, I consider myself to be a man of my word. What's your solid?"

"That."

"What?"

"That."

"_What?"_

"That you won't make me do something like that again!" Max said, throwing his arms up in the air, stopping in his tracks and looking at his friend seriously. "I gotta draw the line somewhere, Tyse."

Tyson looked him in the eye, and when his dark eyes broke off to the side awkwardly, Max knew he'd gotten his point across. "Yeah, alright," Tyson said. Looking back up at him, he said sincerely, "I'm sorry, man. Really. I just –"

"– Couldn't do it without me. I know, I know," Max said, rolling his eyes and smiling as he began to walk forward again. "You'd be so useless without me, bro."

"Hey hey hey, I'm supposed to be the one with the ego in this duo," Tyson said, getting his snark back on. Max had to step to the side to dodge the elbow to his ribs.

"Oh, don't I know it," the blonde said, snickering.

"Damn straight," Tyson said, throwing an arm over Max's shoulders. "So, dude, fancy tailing Kai to the beach again tomorrow and taking some pictures?"

Max shrugged off his arm and twisted around, laughing disbelievingly. "Erm, no?" he said, walking backwards as he spoke. "Unlike you, I _don't _have a death wish, neither do I like playing with fire. And, also," he said tetchily, "I really _do_ have a Chemistry paper to study for."

"Home-schooling, duh," Tyson said, grinning.

"Argh, Tyson – it's _not_ the cake-walk that you think it is!" Max said exasperatedly, tackling his best friend with a laugh.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Sooo, there we have it. DUDES. So, how much do you want to see what Tyson has planned for that camera. ;) I don't know about you, but if Max didn't feel like following Kai to the beach tomorrow, I sure wouldn't mind taking his place. 8DDD_

_And also, what do you think of Max and Tyson? Not romantically, haha, but as friends. XD How far would you go for a friend, and where would you draw the line? :)  
><em>

_As always, if you review I will love you forever. That goes for you guest readers, too! :D  
>Until next time!<br>_

_~ Indie  
><em>


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